


benefits of extracare membership

by valcellarum



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Humor, M/M, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-08-02 23:10:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16314422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valcellarum/pseuds/valcellarum
Summary: you're the cashier at cvs and i only ever run into you at the worst times auor, 5 times tim regrets going to cvs and 1 time he doesn't





	benefits of extracare membership

**Author's Note:**

> tag yourself

Tim’s an adult (as of five months ago). He knows how to take care of himself and make good decisions.

That’s exactly why he finds himself running out of the bus station thirty minutes before his boarding time because he forgot his printed ticket at home.

Now, if only he didn’t live an hour and a half away from the city.

If only he hadn't booked a ticket for three in the morning.

If only he’d had the prudence to check for his ticket any time in the past five hours he’d been at the station.

He'd tried,  _begged_  the stone-faced lady behind the ticket counter to help him reprint the ticket. He could see a printer  _right there next to the window_ , for crying out loud. But she was cold. Heartless. Told him to either purchase a new ticket or suck it. He wasn’t even allowed to just show them the confirmation email.

So now Tim’s sprinting half a mile to the nearest CVS with his suitcase in tow and running through the last couple of days in his head. He’s bound to have done some good deeds, right? He helped a poor young boy (actually his roommate on the verge of failing freshman year for the second time) study for his calculus exam (read: design a cheat sheet that could be snuck into the testing room). But nope, that was purely for monetary incentives, not from the kindness of his own heart. He’s supporting capitalism and dishonesty and both of those things are Bad.

_Please let the printing station be open_ , he prays, because karma simply can’t help a faithless heathen like him. Come to think of it, praying probably won’t help either.

Normally he’d call up Steph or Cass, who unlike him, wisely decided to attend an urban school five minutes away from here.

But also unlike him, they wisely purchased tickets for yesterday afternoon instead of attempting to save $2.50 by leaving 12 hours later.

He almost slams into the automatic doors from his sheer momentum. Thankfully, no one’s around to witness him stumble.

Tim spots the sign for the Photo Center at the back. He doesn’t actually know if they’ll print normal printer paper, probably not, but those brightly lit kiosks look so much more promising than that ticket lady had when she'd slammed the window shut on him.

**_Please insert your SD card or memory stick._ **

Hm. That may be a problem. But Tim, ever the resourceful hacker, remembers that memory sticks plug into USB ports, which means he can just use his phone and charger. His phone’s basically a glorified memory stick. He taps his temple in acknowledgement of his genius.

And then proceeds to collapse into a sobbing heap on the floor because he’s actually a dumbass and his phone literally died right as he found the location of the CVS. (Also, photo apps  _are_  a thing, but...)

That’s where the cashier finds him approximately 5 seconds later, attracted by the near wails and wet sniveling. The less dramatic part of Tim’s mind is impressed. Tim would've cackled from behind a surveillance monitor for at least a couple of minutes if he'd found a college kid crying pathetically on the floor in front of a photo kiosk at 2:40am. Kind of like how the ticket lady had.

Huh. Maybe that’s where he went wrong.

“Are you hurt? Do you need me to call an ambulance? Do you need me to call your parents?” The cashier kneels down next to him with pacifying gestures.

“I’ve been emancipated since…”  Tim remembers that he’s an adult (as of five months ago!!!) in college so it doesn’t really matter. “I just need to print… my bus leaves in twenty minutes… I  _need_  to print this, but my phone’s out of battery and this machine can’t access my email…” His sentence ends with another keening wail.

The cashier gets up and walks into the staff room. Ah yes, leave him. He’s just going to spend his winter break curled up in a ball at CVS instead of in Miami like all his friends are. It’s what he deserves, really.

If Tim had been a little more attentive to his surroundings instead of sobbing into the carpet in grief, he would have noticed that there was a printer inside the room next to the security monitor. As it is, he only looks up when the cashier walk back into view with his own phone and a handful of tissues held out in front of him.

“I pulled up the app and logged out of my email, so just,” he mimes typing and presses the phone neatly into Tim’s trembling hands.

Tim locks eyes with his,  _oh_ , very handsome savior-cashier and whispers, “Thank you so much.” His eyes well up with tears of gratitude. The cashier looks slightly Afraid, but pats him on the shoulder with a reassuring grin and tells him that he’ll be at the front to ring him up when he’s done.

He gets to work immediately and in seconds, has his ticket printed on a 4” x 6” glossy photo paper. It’s that, or at least two dollars more for any larger size. He didn’t suffer through all this to lose all the money he saved from his frugal bus ticket decision.

Smearing the tears and snot off (around) his face, he drags himself to the checkout station. He plops the cashier's—Todd, from his nametag—phone on the counter and hands him the photo and receipt.

Todd takes one look at the tiny script on the shiny paper and bursts out laughing. “Shit, you should’ve told me,” he says between gasps for air. “There’s a printer in the back room.”

Tim’s face is frozen into a dead smile. His eye twitches. “It’s… alright… Here…” He hands over a quarter.

“Oh, do you have an ExtraCare card? Phone number works, too. It’s 33¢ regularly, but 25¢ this week if you’re a member.” No. No, he doesn’t, and there is but that single quarter in his wallet. His smile grows ever deader as he shakes his head.

He turns over his wallet and a jelly bean and some lint fall out.

Todd’s shoulders are shaking from silent laughter, but this time, he gets it under control by the time Tim turns his dead gaze back up to him.

“Here, just don’t tell anyone. This is only my first week here,” he says as he takes out a small card from his pocket and scans it. He dutifully recites, "Your total comes out to 25¢,” before taking his quarter and wrapping the new receipt around his photo ticket. He wraps Tim’s stiff, outstretched fingers around the purchase. Tim finally snaps out of it.

“Thank you. Todd.”

As Tim rushes out the door and heads back to the bus station, he thinks to himself that he’s never coming back here. He can never show his face in front of that handsome, handsome boy with the pretty smile ever again.

(When the bus driver collects his ticket, he has to physically stop himself from flinching back from the booming laughter that his tiny, shiny piece of paper brings out from the old man. He chuckles nervously along. Oh, he is never taking this bus again either.)

* * *

It’s spring break and Kon’s come to visit from Kansas. There’s an unspoken agreement that while he’s first and foremost here for Tim, they’re going to stay with Steph and Cass in the city because Tim’s life choices leave something to be desired. Even Kon has easier access to health services and public transportation in those wheat fields of his.

They’d just left the aquarium on the second day and decided that they’re going to spend the rest of the afternoon and beyond marathoning Star Wars. They need snacks, so they head to the CVS down the corner.

There are alarm bells ringing at the back of Tim’s head, but Steph is animatedly saying something about meeting a transfer kid named Jason who she thinks would be a good match for Tim. She wants to set them up and Cass agrees. Kon doesn’t know who Jason is, but also concurs that Tim needs a boy to take him out of his maximum security cell of a school sometimes. He didn’t look so great when they first saw him at the beginning of break.

Tim stops listening as soon as he sees a two-for-one deal on Flavor Blasted Xtra Cheddar Goldfish. He scurries over to the shelf. Discount for members only.

“Hey, does anyone have an ExtraCare card?” A collective no. “I guess I'll finally get one. Last time, I…” That’s when Tim finally takes a closer look around and realizes that this is the CVS that shall not be mentioned.

He thinks he can see tear stains on the floor from his little meltdown.

But it’s afternoon. Todd probably works late night shifts from the single data point Tim can extrapolate from. What are the odds he’s here today? Plus, Tim never told any of his friends about the ticket incident and he doesn’t want to raise any suspicions by herding them out the door like he so desperately wants to. Kon’s already got a 12-pack of coke and a mountain of chips and candy in his arms onto which Steph and Cass are liberally stockpiling more.

_It’s fine, you’re fine_ , he continues to tell himself up until they walk up to the register and Tim chirps, “Hi, may I sign up for an ExtraCare card please?” in the sweetest voice because he needs to make a good impression on at least one CVS employee in his life.

His inner mantra comes abruptly to a stop when the cashier turns around.

It’s him. It’s Todd.

Cass waves aggressively at him and now they’re pointing finger guns at each other. That means they  _know_  each other and Tim can’t just run out the store screaming into the sunset.

“Welcome back! You look so much better! I’ll need your name, birthday, phone number, and email address for the card,” Todd rattles off without missing a beat.

Cass and Steph look at each other. Look back at Tim. Start speculating under their breath. He ignores them. He’s going to take that story to his grave. He really hopes they respect their friendship and doesn’t ask Todd about it since they seem to be on such friendly terms. And when did that happen? They’ve never mentioned a Todd and they tell each other pretty much everything. ( _Not everything_ , Tim’s conscience whispers and Tim flicks it into his mental trash can with his mental fingers.)

“I’m Tim, uh, Timothy Drake.” He types in his information. Todd takes out a pair of those mini cards and scans them, reciting the little blurb about being an ExtraCare member and how to use the cards. Tim’s a little distracted by those green-blue eyes and that deep voice and those corded muscles under that thin T-shirt—he was bundled in a sweater last time and Tim was too emotional to take notice of anything else—so he just nods along, eyes glazed over.

“Here you are, Tim.” Todd hands him the cards and, like the true lifelong asshole friends they are—

Steph, Cass, and Kon start  _applauding_. Steph loudly congratulates him on reaching adulthood and getting his first membership card. Everyone waiting in line and half the stragglers around the store are peering over shelves to look at the commotion—at him.

Oh, Tim is going to pay them back. Right after his eye stops twitching and he no longer has purely homicidal urges. He needs to be calm enough to cover his tracks. Todd’s cackling over there behind the counter even as he tries to speed up his scanning apologetically.

When everything’s bagged and paid for, Tim does an about-face and splits. Before he remembers the Flavor Blasted Xtra Cheddar Goldfish in Kon's possession and turns to snatch a box, ripping it open and shoveling artificially cheese-flavored fish in his face like a godless heathen. This is what he sacrificed his dignity again for.

He is  _definitely_  never coming back here.

* * *

He finds himself in the store three days later because, “Hey, Tim, honey. It seems my period’s here and I’ve run out of tampons. Could you be a dear and go grab me some? Please be quick. I don’t want to bleed everywhere or get hemorrhoids from sitting here too long.”

Oh Steph, the things he does in the name of love and camaraderie and mutual blackmail material. Not that he’s got anything against getting girl stuff in public; that’s masculinist thinking, first of all, and he’s also seen and done way more intimate things in the five years he’s known Steph. It’s just that it’s literally pouring freezing rain outside and the closest CVS is, well,  _that one_.

And of course, Todd  _has_  to be the only one working the shift when he drops by the counter, his Love Live! hoodie over green scaly Robin onesie soaking wet, with two boxes of Super Plus in one hand and a box of Light in the other, plus a variety of Flamin Hot chips tucked under his arms. He lets out a deep sigh and hangs his head.

“Girlfriend trouble?” Todd gives him a questioning look.

“Nah, I’m single,” Tim says absently. He doesn’t elaborate on who the tampons are for; his and Stephanie’s bond is too complicated to put into words.

He also just can’t look directly into Todd’s eyes. There’s already too much between them, his current fashion notwithstanding.

“Oh. Hm.” Todd rings him up and Tim boots it the hell out of there, hood pulled over his head. He really needs to stop coming back here.

(He doesn’t notice the way Todd eyes his wet form up and down, the way his features brightened just a little when Tim let slip his relationship status.)

* * *

“Heya Tim,” Todd greets him at the entrance. Tim nods back. He’s given up at this point. Might as well burn all his bridges in one place. Forest management and whatnot.

He comes back five minutes later with two of each kind of condom and a large bag of various other over-the-counter birth control options and pregnancy tests. Todd raises an eyebrow, a 'wow' on his lips.

“My friend’s an RA and I’m on errand duty because it’s apparently unfair that my Spring Break lasts a week longer than hers.” Maybe it’s nice to let it out once in a while.

“Ah, Cassandra?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I’m sorry for your loss. Don’t let her bully you too much.”

“You too.”  _Oops_.

* * *

He walks into CVS purposefully, his head held high. It’s the Friday morning before Tim has to return to school and Cass begged him to take over her IT shift because she forgot that she signed up for a for-credit research study at the same time. She’s expecting someone to come in with a major computer problem and wants someone she trusts there. He’s still holding a little grudge, but he accepted anyway because he knows his track record is in dire need of good deeds.

He grabs a bag of gummy worms and some trail mix to keep him awake and functioning through the shift. He’s not entirely sure if it’s legal for him to be working at a school he’s not attending, but Cass tells him that he’s way better than all the other IT kids and that he can keep the money from the shift.

So maybe it’s not really a good deed if he’s again swayed by shallow praise and monetary incentives.

He’s buzzing a little on his way to checkout. For once, he’s at CVS for a completely mundane reason on a completely mundane day. Take  _that_ , Todd.

Except, when he gets to the front of the line, he sees that none of the cashiers are Todd. There was no sign of him at the entrance or floating around the store either. He knows logically that Todd has a life, probably goes to college, and doesn’t live in CVS contrary to Tim’s impression of him thus far. But. Expectations, ya know?

Outside the store, he lets out a muffled scream of frustration. It’s the first time he’s, dare he say, looking forward to seeing Todd and Todd. Can’t. Bother. To. Show. Up.

* * *

Jason’s panicking. He has a presentation at two this afternoon and his laptop is… He doesn’t even know how this sort of thing  _happens_.

All he knows is that it’s Cassandra’s shift at the IT desk. She would know how to help him and keep it quiet. For a price, sure, but better than the alternative that is Dick, who will hold it over him forever, laughing even from beyond the grave. Cassandra’s prices may be high, but Dick has no prices.

He bursts into the student center, his laptop wrapped in his comforter and shoved inside a cooler to muffle the sounds as much as possible. Even so, he can still hear his own prepubescent voice coming from the speakers. In Japanese.

He speaks extra loudly to cover it up. “Holy fuck, Cass. You gotta help me. I swear I will do your bidding for the next week or month or whatever, just. I tried turning it off and on, but _it doesn't fucking turn off none of the buttons work_  my only copy of my presentation is on this computer but it won't stop playing this rendition of Naruto I did with Roy and Kori back in 8th grade pleasehelpmeIdontwanttofailoutofclassorletanyoneelseseethisIwillbe _ruined_ —” 

Jason finally looks up to see that it's not Cassandra behind the desk, but… Tim from CVS? Who's looking back at him with wide blue eyes, gummy worm hanging from his mouth. He holds up a finger, slurps in the gummy and chews thoughtfully for ten seconds while they listen to young Jason scream from inside the cooler, “ _blah blah blah blah dattebayo._ ” Verbatim.

He gestures for Jason to bring over the packaged laptop. With apprehension in his heart, Jason lifts open the cooler, turns it over, and dumps its contents over the reception counter. It rolls off the desk and lands in Tim's lap with an oomph. From Tim, not the laptop. Through the speakers, young Kori as Sakura is saying something about dieting and honor to Naruto-Jason. At least she nails the accent.

Tim carefully unwraps the comforter, raising an eyebrow at the Teen Titans print before shaking his head at himself and bringing his brow back under control. He extracts the laptop, places it front and center inside his work station. 

When Tim flips up the screen, Jason expects him to laugh at the horrid ten-minute cosplay he and his friends are wearing in the video. Instead, he calmly types in a series of commands on the keyboard, nods to himself, and reaches to the far side of the table for a hard drive of some sort.

“ _Believe it dattebayo!_ ” Naruto-Jason shouts from the screen.

Tim’s lips are starting to twitch, but he keeps it together while he plugs in the USB cable and presses another set of keys. There’s a beep from the laptop and, oh sweet mother of baby Jesus, it’s finally quiet for the first time since he woke up to this video looping on repeat at full volume.

He gives Jason the prettiest, sweetest, self-satisfied smile for all of two seconds before he just. Fucking loses it. Ah, there it is. The other shoe dropping.

A part of him is still cringing from having to relive his more mortifying middle-school days all morning, but an overpowering part is completely enamored with Tim’s smile and laugh. Tim’s starting to snort a little and repeat “oh my God” in varying tones. It’s a wild and carefree cross between a literal interpretation of a guffaw and a flock of dying geese.

"This is karma for all those times I was witness to your pain and suffering, isn’t it?”

Tim just laughs even harder. Jason has to admit that he’s smitten with the sound. He can’t help but grin and blurt out, “Please go on a date with me,” in response to that lovestruck sentiment.

Tim’s eyes widen and his geese die with a wheeze.  _Shit, was that the wrong move?_

He’s about to take it back or play it off somehow, but Tim responds in one breath: “Not that I don’t want to, but. I actually go to school over an hour away from here. I’m just filling in for Cass because. Uh. Well, it’s my last weekend here before I’m sucked back into school. Like legit, I didn’t see the sun for three months last semester. And I don’t have a car? I never leave school because it’s in the middle of nowhere with no public transportation for five miles. I haven’t properly interacted with anyone outside of my best friends and three classmates since I started college ahahahaaaaa—” He ends with a wheeze.

“I… don’t know if I can process everything you just said. How do you even do that?”

Tim just pants, out of breath, and throws up a peace sign.

“Well, I just bought a motorcycle with all the money I made serving you at CVS.” Tim’s eyes narrow a bit, but immediately soften at Jason’s grin. “If we can’t do anything this weekend, I’d be happy to pick you up another time from your school.”

“Then yes, I would in fact love to go on a date with you, Todd.”

Oh, he still thinks that’s his first name, doesn’t he?

“I don’t think I ever properly introduced myself.” He sticks out his hand. “I’m Jason Todd. Please call me Jason.”

“Jason, huh. Pleasure.” Tim shakes his hand slowly, like his mind is elsewhere, putting together pieces of a puzzle. “You know, that. Actually makes a lot of sense now.” There’s a crazed sort of gleam in his eyes. “You know what else? We should go on this date right now. Let’s get brunch. I’m going to close up shop here and Cass can SUCK IT.” He yells out this last part.

Jason’s suddenly starting to question his crush a little. Also— “Wait, I have a presentation on 1980 to 1990 American literature in three hours.”

“Huh? You still need to eat, though, right? Let’s go grab you food and I can help you practice or something. SUCK IT, CASS!” He yells out again.

“S-sure.” Jason feels like he’s missing out on something, but Tim’s got his laptop and blanket tucked under one arm and the other hand wrapped in his.

Eh, whatever, Jason can get on board with this.

**Author's Note:**

> wish my cvs stories ended like tim's


End file.
